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Despite the high value placed on children within almost all Native American communities and cultures, there is growing evidence that mistreatment of Native American children, including sexual abuse, is about as prevalent as it is in the dominant society (Fischler, 1985, Lujan et al., 1989).
Investigators have underscored the poverty, alcohol and drug use, considerable situational stress, and a variety of factors related to loss of cultural identity as important predisposing factors in the physical and sexual abuse of Native American children. Some investigators (Schafer and McIllwaine, 1992) have noted the frequency with which Native American pedophiles were initially sexually abused themselves while attending religious and Bureau of Indian Affairs boarding schools.
Although there is a small but growing literature about the presence and prevalence of sexual abuse of Native American children and about the difficulties in determining the range and extent of such abuse, there is almost no literature about the diagnosis or evaluation of the impact of sexual abuse on Native American children. The present study is an attempt to present such data.
The impact of sexual abuse on children and adolescents in general has been viewed in a variety of ways (Lourie and Blick, 1987). The role of sexual abuse in producing subjective distress, in increasing the likelihood of belonging to certain nosological categories (e.g., depression, multiple personality, borderline personality), and in increasing the probability of specific behavioral outcomes (e.g., prostitution, sexual dysfunction) have all been examined. The literature in this area also explores the impact of sexual abuse on the developing personality (Abbel and Roll, 1989; Goodwin, 1987).
The present study examines the impact of a particular kind of sexual